Like most students, education in the age of COVID has brought one consistency: screens. With technology all about, I’ve retraced my steps to one of my earliest and simplest pleasures (one that actually predates my love of food): art!

Art has been on my mind a lot recently. For an article on the Tufts Daily, I interviewed Dina Deitsch, the Director and Chief Curator of the Tufts University Art Galleries. Even more recently, I helped a high school student with an essay on art and science, and how they are more similar than different. In my view, both of these projects highlighted two pillars of art: observation and expression. In a period of crisis, art allows us to process and understand our experiences. More importantly, I believe that art is a way for us to tap into our flow, connecting where we were with where we are and ultimately, where we want to go.

In high school and the beginning of college, I increasingly wound myself in academics. When COVID came about, I found myself rebounded to a younger period of my life where a pen and paper would satisfy me for hours. During college this year – in moments of loneliness, pressure, and hope – I opened up my little sketch pad and popped open a marker, letting my own creativity take the reins.

In many ways, my home kitchen had been my rescue airplane during quarantine; it’s taken me to other places, been there for moments of quiet celebration, and has facilitated lessons beyond the scope of food itself. At school – sans kitchen and stimulating food – blank pages became my new vehicle.

Most of the time, I had no idea what the end product was going to turn out like. And most of the time, I ended up liking those pieces the best. An eight year old girl I tutor said it most wisely: “Drawing is nice because all you have to do is look around you. You draw what’s around you, and if it doesn’t look like it, that’s OK because then you just make it up.”

Using her words, here are some things that I made up!

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